Growing up in the local area, Rear Adm. Victorino "Vic" Mercado, Vice Director, Strategy, Plans, and Policy (J5) U.S. Central Command, was happy to return to familiar surroundings among family and friends, and to appear as the guest speaker for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division's (NSWC PHD) Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month event on May 23 at Naval Base Ventura County's Bard Mansion. Mercado is of Filipino descent.

"It's nice to return to this area where I grew up, to visit with family, and deliver an important message relative to this month's Asian theme, ‘Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion," said Mercado in his opening remarks.

Singling out the words "building leadership," Mercado stated that "leadership begins in the schools."

"This year's theme about leadership is why I'm here today…it started early on when I was in the local school system…as some of you know, I attended Blackstock Elementary and Channel Islands High School."

He said the schools prepared him for future leadership roles and piqued his interest in attending the Naval Academy, which he attended, and graduated in 1983.

"However," he said, "there were not a lot of Filipinos at the academy at that time…and now, there is an Asian cultural club on campus."

He commented that the establishment of Asian clubs and Asian cultural celebrations was a significant and important change that he has seen over time.

Mercado stated that role models also play a pivotal role in helping to build leaders.

"You need to have people to look up to," said Mercado, "and there are many good Asian role models in the Navy."

Mercado identified the late Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II war hero, as one of the most influential and positive role models of Asian descent.

"He was a lieutenant in the Army and fought throughout Europe putting his life on the line to save others," said Mercado. "He lost his right arm and was later awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration."

Mercado explained that the Medal of Honor did not come easily, however. At that time in American history, Asian Americans were still subject to discrimination and it wasn't until the issue was resolved under then President Bill Clinton that the original Distinguished Service Cross was changed to a Medal of Honor.

The reason Mercado points this out is because he too embraces the fight for equal rights for military personnel, Asian or otherwise. He says he wants to see "equality and fairness" applied when it comes to all military matters.

In conclusion, Mercado asked the question, "So, how are we doing with inclusion of Asians in the Navy, and is the Navy a true reflection of society?" The answer…he says "it depends." According to Mercado, statistics show that when it comes to enlisted personnel, the answer is yes, but the numbers fall short when it comes to officers. "This," he says, "is something we need to change."

NSWC PHD is located at Naval Base Ventura County. It is the Navy's premier in-service engineering and logistics center and has been in existence for 50 years. The command provides test and evaluation, in-service engineering, and integrated logistics support for weapon and combat systems installed in the United States Navy fleet, United States Coast Guard fleet, and many foreign navy fleets. NSWC PHD's focus is to provide safe, effective, and affordable weapon systems to surface ships.

This story is contributed by a member of the community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with Ventura County Star.